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Marxism, and the influence it played in Darwins Origin of Species
September 2, 2002
Less than a decade after Karl Marx completed his philosophical work, The German Ideology: Part I, Charles Darwin was finally persuaded to publish his biological masterpiece, The Origin of Species. ... When one takes a close look at the moral underpinnings of Darwins breakthrough discovery of evolution, it is easy to see Marxist inspiration. ...
Once the reader is able to think outside the religious dogma concerning "Creationism" that, at the time Darwin was writing, was extremely powerful and incredibly well indoctrinated, Darwins thesis is not too surprising. He starts with very simple postulates: first, that all species strive to procreate; and second, that all species face competition for key, limited natural resources. The core principle behind Darwins theory, though, is that all organisms struggle most basically for life. Through that struggle: any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relations to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual and will generally be inherited by its offspring (115).
That, then, is the premise on which his theory was founded; anything that allows an individual within a species to better compete will allow that individual to procreate more successfully; that success will ultimately allow the trait to be passed down through generations of what came to be called "evolution.
Approximate Word count = 1013
Approximate Pages = 4.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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